Former Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Forward Jamarion Sharp Named 2025-26 Kia NBA G League Defensive Player of the Year
FRISCO, Texas – (Release) Current Texas Legends player and former Ole Miss men’s basketball forward Jamarion Sharp has been tabbed the 2025-26 Kia NBA G League Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced on Thursday.
In his second season with the Legends, Sharp appeared in 25 games and averaged 7.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, and a league-leading 3.8 blocks per game while shooting a league-high 73.5 percent from the field. He helped anchor a defense for the Texas Legends that led the league in blocks per game at 7.3 and finished with a top-10 defensive rating.
Sharp played for Ole Miss during the 2023-24 season, establishing himself as one of the best defensive players in the SEC. Appearing in 31 games, he finished with an SEC-best 75 blocks, the third most in a single season in school history. In December of 2023, he became just the 14th student-athlete in NCAA history to collect 300 career blocks in three years or less.
He set a program record for blocks in a single game against Florida with nine, helping Ole Miss tie the SEC record for most blocked shots as a team in a conference game with 16.
At the time of his graduation, Sharp ranked 21st in NCAA history with a career average of 3.73 blocks per game, and 53rd in total blocks with 354.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception. Email Evie at: Evie@TheRebelWalk.com
